Toney confirms Shamrock fight, then trashes MMA

Former boxing world champion James Toney has confirmed he will fight MMA legend Ken Shamrock on October 1, and he has taken a whole catalogue of new digs at mixed martial arts.

Toney recently made his MMA bow against Randy Couture, getting completely embarrassed by the five-time UFC champion, who scored a first round submission victory.

Now Toney will stand toe-to-toe with Shamrock, in a bout that will be governed by special rules that state the fight can only hit the mat for 30 seconds at a time before being stood up.

"As far as I know, it's a done deal," Toney told East Side Boxing. "The only way the fight won't happen is if he doesn't show. But I love Ken Shamrock, he's beautiful and I'm pretty sure he'll come to fight. Because I am ready, baby! All these boxers, they're scared to fight me; so I'm going back to MMA to get a fight.

"Everyone knows I had problems going into the Randy Couture fight, but the mother f****r never came to fight anyhow. He scored that bullshit takedown. That will never happen again. We offered Randy more money for a rematch and he said no. But Shamrock; he'll come to fight - I hope, anyway!

"All I know is he's down as a legend in MMA, but that stuff don't mean anything to me. Boxing is a real sport. You have to be retired for five years before you can go in to The Hall of Fame in boxing. In this sport and in wrestling, they put you in straight away and that's bullshit. There will be no wrestling in this fight; this will be real combat.

"I know I'll knock him out. Trust me."

Explaining his motives for heading back to the MMA scene, Toney once again put the blame on the Klitschkos and David Haye, whom he insists are refusing to fight him.

"These guys are clowns. You've got David "Gaye" and Wladimir "Bitschko," who are gonna earn millions all because Gaye can talk trash. They call him a great trash-talker, but I'm the best trash-talker on the planet!

"[Haye] did some shit with a T-shirt and he talked his way into a million dollar fight. That's nothing - I called Klitschko's mom a b**ch and his sister too, and they don't wanna fight me. How come? I did everything I could to get those two sisters into the ring."